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My son and I toyed around with an Ignitor when on vacation in the Summer for a year or 2 while at the beach, having some fun with it.

Then, we went and watched Tristan Underwood fly his ballet routine at a competition at Ocean Shores (Summer Heat) some 3 years ago. It was a blistery cold windy rainy day with nothing very Summer or heat about it, but our flying fires were certainly lit!

We were blown away by the flying he was doing in his routine (full gambit of modern tricks), not realizing that such maneuvers were even possible. Jim Barber was also on hand and answered many of our questions. We bought 2 E2s that day and haven't looked back since!

Shoreline Park - 1995: My girlfriend at the time had a 7 year old son. We took him to SP on a Sunday to fly the $4.99 special SLK we'd just bought at the local drugstore. Had a blast and got that cheap kite up high enough to get a warning from the park ranger (Shoreline is near Moffet Field NAS).

Little did I know, the real danger was Dan Whitney and his partner practicing their pairs routines. Should have averted eyes and walked to the car quickly - don't need ANOTHER expensive hobby. Too late. Talked to Dan a little bit then and wound up buying my first 2-line from him. First step onto the slippery slope.

As an aside, Dan's kite business was called GWTW - I'm guessing he sold it to our host - is this correct? Does anyone know what happened to Dan or if he still flys?

As an after-school project, my mother had he and I write off to several places where you could get free stuff: samples, catalogs, etc. Well, my brother wrote to that place that's been printing kite catalogs for 20+ years.

When that catalog came (I think about 1988 or '89), we were awed by the huge variety of kites available (I distinctly remember the Martin Lester "Legs" parafoil on the back cover), as well as some of the prices. For someone whose mother said that an $8 mylar dragon from the corner store was expensive, a $50 kite was way out of reach, much less some of the higher-end stunters.

Eventually, (maybe about '95?) I was able to buy my first stunt kite: a Skynasaur F-36. I couldn't fly it except when we went to the beach: winds were normally too weak, and when they were strong, they were so turbulent that the kite fell out of the sky. But I had a blast at the beach and wanted more. Although I had some SLK's that worked pretty well, they weren't as fun. Unfortunately high school and especially college got in the way more than a little bit, so I didn't get another stunt kite for years.

However when I was done with college in 2002, I decided to reward myself with a modern stunt kite, this time a Shanti Skywave. I now had a kite that would fly in our local winds, and some flying spaces had also opened up. The rest, as they say is history.

I flew dime store and home made kites as a (young) kid, but it was later in life when I became a bigger kid ...

In 1978 we moved to Oregon so Kristine could attend Optometry School. One weekend (1979?) at the Oregon coast (D River) I saw Steve Lamb from Catch the Wind, (I think the store was only a few days old) and Steve Edeiken (Rainbow Kite Company). Steve was showing Steve how the kite(s) he had just sold him looked in the sky. They were on the beach with a six stack of the new Rainbow Stunt Kite.

That was not only the day I was re-introduced to kite flying but also to the philosophy,"everyone you meet is a potential friend and kite flier, so teach as many people you can to fly." I was hooked, we began going to the coast almost every weekend, I would fly every chance I could and was soon increasing the number of kites in my bag(s). I started with Rainbows,Trlbys,Hawaiian Team and Hyper Kites.I have never sold any of my kites, I did trade some Rainbows, for a 12 stack of Peter Powells

1988 family vacation to Cape Lookout and Lincoln City. Bought Trlbys at D River Catch the Wind. I think it was 1989 (maybe 1990 too) went back and bought Spin-off, 6' Flexi Foil, Rev II, and Sky Dart. I can't remember the owner's daughter's name now, but she spent a good hour making a set or two of flying lines for us and explaining how to go about everything.

Too bad they closed, miss the kite selection and service. Loved seeing their huge double 90' spinsock display down by the Sea Gypsy for many years.

The goal was family bonding, but I bonded with the kites and the family bonded elsewhere! My sons will fly for 20 minutes per year, but that's about their limit.

Around 1988-89 my Father and Bro watched a Ray Bethell, Team TOTL (?) and others fly for some kind of TV variety show. Dad, went to Windborne and bought my brother an Aerobat and it started from there.

After getting my Dad a Team kite around 90-ish he started building and made Spinoff and Firedart clones for me.

It has been a childhood obsession. In fact, one day when I came back to Monterey I was flying and my Dad made a pass on a bike ride. He was not aware what kites were capable of now, and when I came home later he told me about "This guy" doing "Incredible stuff". I asked him what the kite looked like, and then I whipped out my Nirvana and asked, "Did it look like this?".

Yup, GWTW was in the Bay Area until 2001 when Dan sold it to Steve & Chris in Chico. He's the reason I got hooked too. I could go to the store on my lunch break...

Dan still comes to local events from time to time. One of the great Kite Guys of all time.

Got my first "real" kite from Dan in 1997, a Jam Session. Learned a great deal from that kite and the Flight School video that came with it. Sent Dan quite a bit more of my money in the next few years...

Two years ago I took my grandson to a kite festival about 50 miles away. Watched 180GO! flying a demo that really frustrated me ... couldn't tell who was flying which kite! So, I wandered over to watch a couple of Rev fliers along the side of the field ... one was helping the other. When "Big Mike" finished helping the other flier, he turned, saw me watching and asked if I had a kite. When I said no, he said "here let me show you how to fly mine."

That was on a Saturday. After researching all weekend, my kite was ordered on Tuesday and in my hands on Friday. A couple more kites and I had to buy a kite bag ... now it's four kite bags and lots of Revs later. And, an assortment of SLKs and line laundry for the grand kids.

Early 70s my younger brother and I flew our Gayla bat kites and battled each other to drag the other guy down when we vacationed at Ocean City, NJ. Few years later I bought a Fighter kite and liked the skill it took to fly it. Dual lines came out a few years later and I never gave them any thought because I thought two lines were for people who couldn't handle a fighter. I stopped after high school. Early 90s I frequented Kitty Hawk Kites when we vacationed at the ОBX. I couldn't believe kites could be so expensive. I lusted after them. I got a box kite and a catalog for my birthday in the mid 90s. I pored over the catalog and dreamed of getting a Prism Ion. I got the Ion and then a Flashlight and Flight School IV (which just didn't click). Early 2000s I found GWTW and learned more about tricking. My first high end kite was a Minigem, my second a Deep Space and I never looked back. I've been learning ever since and having fun.

Plenty of Gaylas, diamonds and boxes in childhood ... best was a box whose lines broke my side of the telephone wires and stayed wrapped there and flying for the rest of the day.

At an OBX vacation about three years back I brought various animal-themed kites for all the kids and fussed with a cheap diamond two-line "stunt kite" my wife got me a few years prior ... it spent a lot of time faced the wrong way. I was literally slack-jawed at the videos and kites on display at Kitty Hawk Kites, but held back. A few months later, picked up Prism Nexus from Midwest Kites and couldn't get enough. The E2 was my first "big" kite. Then, at Lyn's suggestion (Midwest) picked up a Genesis. It's been all downhill uphill flying whenever work and winds allow since then, and it's hard now to imagine now that $60+ seemed like an extravagance.

While I was flying at the local middle-school soccer field recently, some idiotyahoorube with a voicebox and nothing better to do wizened sage driving by yelled at me to "GROW UP!" Allrighty then ... I'll get right on that. Maybe when my knees and shoulders give out {:~)

***While I was flying at the local middle-school soccer field recently, some idiot yahoo rube with a voicebox and nothing better to do wizened sage driving by yelled at me to "GROW UP!"***

I fly on a community college soccer field and had a similar experience. Some kid was hanging half way out the passenger side window of a pickup going down the street and multiple times yelled, "Kite Loser."

All I could do was laugh and think, "I wonder how disappointed his mother would be to know the hard-earned tuition money she's paid produced such a lousy zinger!"

***While I was flying at the local middle-school soccer field recently, some idiot yahoo rube with a voicebox and nothing better to do wizened sage driving by yelled at me to "GROW UP!"***

I fly on a community college soccer field and had a similar experience. Some kid was hanging half way out the passenger side window of a pickup going down the street and multiple times yelled, "Kite Loser."

All I could do was laugh and think, "I wonder how disappointed his mother would be to know the hard-earned tuition money she's paid produced such a lousy zinger!"

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